The Trinidad Espiritu Series No. 3 is the latest release of a brand that was almost dead. In July 2019, Rafael Nodal and his team at Altadis USA resurrected a brand that was barely alive with the release of the Trinidad Espiritu No. 1.
The history of the brand dates back to 1905 in Cuba. In 1920, Diego Trinidad Jr. took over the family business, incorporated it in 1958 and renamed it TTT Trinidad. Then came the Cuban revolution and Fidel Castro would take over all cigar production. Like many, the Trinidad family would leave Cuba for the United States. The company would reach out to the Fuentes and in 1968 the cigars would be rolled in Tampa before the company ceased making the cigar about 10 years later.
In 1997during the cigar book here in the United States the Trinidads and Fuentes would once again make a Dominican Trinidad, but that production was extremely short lives. The Trinidads would go on to sue Cuba for the right to sell Trinidads in the States and they would win in 2001. In 2002, they sold the brand and its U.S. rights to Altadis U.S.A., which never really did much with the brand having it take a back seat to more popular brands like Montecristo and Romeo y Julieta.
Rafael Nodal who serves as the Vice President Altadis USA has turned to AJ Fernandez once again to make the 3rd blend of the Trinidad Espiritu.
Cigar Review: Trinidad Espiritu No. 3
Size: 5 x 50 (Robusto)
Wrapper: San Andres
Binder: Nicaragua
Fillers: Nicaragua
Factory: Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A.
Release Date: October, 2023
Box Count: 20
The Cigar: Featuring the TTT logo with the word Trinidad in gold on a blue background the band also has colors of red, white, green and yellow. A secondary band denotes Espiritu Series No. 3. Box pressed with a dark looking San Andres wrapper the cigar has a few minimal veins. It comes off as under-filled with a spongy feel to it and an under-packed foot.
The Taste: The cold draw of the Trinidad Espiritu No. 3 has rich robust notes of molasses and chocolate with a hint of berries and a nuance of coffee. Even before lighting it up the cigar has a wonderful profile to it. The foot of the cigar offers addition notes of dark chocolate and graham.
After toasting it with a single jet light due to the cigar being a bit under-filled the cigar serves up an incredibly defined warm chocolate note with hits of blackberries and coffee. Smoking the first third of the cigar the notes of blackberries and chocolate dance on the palate where it is joined by some marzipan and espresso. The retrohale adds some rye spice and leather to the mix.
Moving into the second third the espresso notes become the focal point with continued marzipan in the background. At the halfway point notes of blackberries begin to shine with some subtle nutmeg and growing leather that is slightly intensified on the retrohale.
The final third sees notes of chocolate and espresso taking turns dominating the palate over a canvas of leather that grows in intensity as the cigar progresses. Despite being under-filler the cigar smoke incredibly slow lasting me close to 2 hours with no relights needed. The retrohale has a mixture of sweetness and black pepper which awakens the senses.
Conclusion: Rafael Nodal has taken Altadis to new heights. Look, the company is a juggernaut and Rafael Nodal or not, the company would thrive. What Rafael has done is made them relevant again the all types of cigar smokers. Romeo, Montecristo, et. al are the brands my grandfather smokers. The brands new cigar smokers cut their teeth on. Altadis is now a company that also caters to the boutique guy, the aficionado, the cigar snob. Bringing together all cigar smokers is no small task.
As far as the Trinidad, each release has gotten better and the No. 3 as a result is the best to date. It’s rich, balanced, complex and priced fairly when everyone is in a race to see how much they can get away with charging for a cigar. It is worthy of a box purchase and something that is a must have!
Score: 95
Price: $11.00 (Before any local or state taxes)
